The week's theme for most grades is apples! I have a bowl of delicious examples on my desk, to stir up discussion with the students! The topic is a natural extension of last week's books on fall. We are using the readalouds to continue to explore the differences between fiction (literary) and nonfiction (informational) books. Healthy eating is a connection we're making, and many books explain the cycle by which apple trees produce fruit (seeds, growth, flowering, producing fruit, with seeds winding up scattered and sprouting). It's interesting, too, how many of the weeks readalouds move through the steps of a process, whether making applesauce, a pie, or a slingshot. As for the applesauce, I did not realize until I read Applesauce Season, by Eden Ross Lipson, just how easy it is to make applesauce. I don't have a grinder (like the characters in Applesauce Season do), but coring and peeling my apples beforehand works just fine for me.

Grade 5 is viewing a PowerPoint about internet accuracy, and we will talk about the differences between published print resources, online databases, and internet content. One reason I do this at this time of year is to call attention to All About Explorers, a website that looks very reliable but that is really a teaching tool full of misinformation. Please note, especially if you have a 5th-grade student, "All About Explorers" should not be used as a source! Through the generosity of our PTA Pennekamp does have access to an online database--World Book Online; and the County of Los Angeles Public Library also provides access to online databases--you just have to log in with your library card number.

Grade 3 is completing our introduction to the Dewey decimal system. As classes do year after year, they will get to hear the very entertaining "Dewey Rap." (Please be advised, though, that other YouTube content and comments attached to videos may be inappropriate for children.)

Our theme this week is trees and autumn, which begins on either September 22 or 23, depending on which website one consults. Grades K, 1, 2, and 4 are all hearing books about trees. On display in the library are so many beautiful books about trees--it was truly hard to choose among them which ones to read aloud. We even have some chapter-length fiction about trees, notably Regarding the Trees, by Kate Klise; Tree Girl, by T. A. Barron; and The Night Gardener, by Jonathan Auxier (probably my favorite of the books I read over the past summer). There are also several books about Wangari Maathai, who is a leader in planting trees in Kenya to improve the land and promote economic stability for Kenyan women. Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. Also see The Mangrove Tree: Planting Trees to Feed Families, by Susan Roth, which is about "Dr. Gordon Sato, a Japanese American cell biologist who made saltwater and desert land productive through the planting of mangrove trees in the tiny African country of Eritrea" (per the description in our catalog).

Grade 3 is starting to learn the Dewey Decimal System, the system by which public and school libraries organize nonfiction books. We will conclude this next week. Mrs. Hunt and Ms. Hooper's classes have moved to Wednesday this week, to keep all the third-graders on track with Dewey. TK and grade 5 do not visit the library this week as these classes come on Thursday and Friday, when we are off school this week.

Students in all grades are urged to submit a bookmark design for the County of Los Angeles Public Library bookmark contest. The theme this year is "Dream in Color" Contest forms are available in our library and school office; completed entries can be turned in at our library, school office, or any County of Los Angeles library. The due date for submissions is October 11 (returned to library branch) or October 4 (date by which entries must be mailed). This year (for the first time) designs may be in color! Forms can also be downloaded from the County of Los Angeles Public Library's website: Bookmark Contest.

Many nonfiction books are creatively and beautifully written, in addition to being terrifically interesting, so consider including nonfiction in the selections you read with your children. In a library catalog such as ours, a book with numerals in its call number is generally a nonfiction book (but watch out for the call number 398.2, folklore and fairy tales, where you'll find works such as Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, and the like). Is there a topic you and your student would like to know more about? Type that term in the catalog's search window and choose a "Subject" or "Keyword" search. In the records that are retrieved, the call number allows you to distinguish between nonfiction and fiction works, and to locate the book in our library. Students in grades 3, 4, and 5 have seen the catalog demonstrated many times during class library visits. It might be fun to ask your son or daughter to be your "teacher"--to show you how we look for materials in our library catalog!

You are invited to visit the library to learn more about catalog searching or to check out books. The library is open during school hours: from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Parents may visit with or without their students except when the library is in use for a class visit. Parents may check out 10 books at a time.

Please note, next Monday, November 11, is Veterans Day, a school holiday.

This is MBEF pledge week. Please contribute to MBEF, which supports our schools--and notably our school libraries--so generously and essentially. Without MBEF, we simply would not have many of the programs that enrich our students' lives and develop their minds. I am grateful to MBEF as a district employee, the parent of two young men educated in our school district, and a member of this community.

There is a lot of library news to report! First, I'd like to mention that the L.A. County Public Library is having its annual bookmark contest again. The theme this year is "Read, Seek, Explore!" All students are encouraged to participate. The entrance form is available here as well as at the Pennekamp library. Submissions are due by October 19 and can be turned in at the public library, the Pennekamp library, or the Pennekamp school office. Please note, designs must be in black or very dark blue ink.

We had our first ice cream coupon winners in the library's "Mystery Person" ticket drawing. The winners are Lauren C. (grade 5), Makena H. (grade 5), Evan L. (grade 4), and Joe S. (grade 5). These students (among others) were recognized for the quality of their participation during class visits to the library. Great job, students!

Several students have asked me to post the link to the "Dewey Rap" shown last week to grade 3, so here it is. Please be aware that this video is found on Youtube and that not all Youtube content is appropriate for children.

This is the first week that kindergarten students will be checking out from the library! They are very excited! Family members, please try to help your child remember his or her library book on the day that his/her class visits the library: Cannon, on Monday; Rios, Vanderpool/Schneck, Vavao, all on Wednesday. A student in kindergarten or first grade can only check out one book at a time, so students must return the book they have in order to take another. Parents, did you know that you can check out 10 books at a time under your own name?

Grade 5 is choosing new book report books. The "Resource Lists" in our catalog have been created to direct students to materials suitable for book reports and other projects. Please click on the tab for "Public" lists if they do not appear right away.

Grade 3 is hearing Moonshot, by Brian Floca, to support their in-class work on the phases of the moon. If your child would like to know more about the Apollo 11 mission, consider looking at information online with him or her. NASA, National Geographic, and the Air & Space Museum all have great resources. You might also consult World Book Online, to which our school subscribes (through the support of the Pennekamp PTA). For the World Book Online username and password, please ask your teacher or contact me. Grade 4 is hearing about John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt's designation of our national monuments and parks. For all grades weekly readalouds, please visit that page of this website!

Thanks to the PTA for providing the funds and support that are necessary to the library's success. Clicking through from this website to Amazon (see banner below) generates funds for our PTA, whenever you then make a purchase. Try it!

I have returned from my various travels and am looking forward to seeing a full schedule of classes this week! The class visit schedule can be viewed on this website. This week we have early dismissal on Thursday, so classes that meet Thursday afternoon are invited to visit the library at a different open time. Library circulation policies are the same as last year. Students are permitted to check out the same number of books as their grade level; so, for example, a first-grader may take one book and a fifth-grader may take five books. Parents may check out ten books at a time. Kindergarteners are also allowed to check out one book but will not begin checking out right away. The loan period is one week, but a book may be renewed three times, for a total of four weeks. The library volunteer schedule is filling up! Parent volunteers are still needed for the following classes: Mrs. Horowitz, Ms. Hooper, and Ms. Fletcher. Please see me or your child’s teacher to find out more about volunteering in the library. This week the lower grades will hear stories about libraries and reading. TK/K will be working with books related to their study of the five senses. Grades 3 and 4 will be learning about the organization of the library. Grade 5 will hear a story in commemoration of Patriot Day that will also give us a chance to talk about picture books in general and literary terms.

Thank you so much to the students and families who chose books for the library at last week's book fair. It's super exciting to have new books for our students! Thanks very, very much!

Friday, December 9, is the next 5th-grade book club meeting. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and talking about Belly Up, by Stuart Gibbs. Next week is the 4th-grade book club, on Friday, December 16. Both clubs meet in the library at lunch recess. Copies of The Secret Zoo (the 4th-grade selection) can be obtained from me (the cost is $6, to reimburse my cost) or checked out (for free!) from the Manhattan Beach branch of the public library.

There are a multitude of special events coming up in honor of the winter holidays. The Mira Costa music department is presenting a winter band concert on Tuesday and a winter orchestra concert on Friday. Both events begin at 7:00 p.m. and will feature classical works and seasonal selections. Saturday, Manhattan Bread and Bagel (310-545-7553) offers its annual gingerbread house class: $35.00, an individual or group is given instruction and all the necessary items to construct a gingerbread house. Sunday, December 11, are the holiday fireworks at the pier. Before the fireworks (from 3:00 to 6:30), the Manhattan Beach firefighters serve their annual spaghetti dinner. The firefighters will again be collecting new, unwrapped toys for the South Bay Toy Drive. And of course Santa's sleigh is making its rounds in Manhattan Beach. If you are thinking of seeing a movie over the winter break, Hugo, based on The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick, is family friendly and true to the book. My family and I enjoyed it.

This week at the library all classes will be hearing books about Hanukkah, except for 3rd grade, which is learning about the Dewey decimal system.

Library volunteers, please come by the library to pick up a little holiday gift. Thank you for your tremendous help, which helps keep the library a welcoming and orderly place.

The book club for 5th-graders met last Friday, October 7. We had a terrific time and chose our first reading selection: A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz. The next meeting for the 5th-grade club will be Friday, November 4. New members are welcome!

This week the library's book club for 4th-graders begins on Friday, October 14. All 4th-grade students are invited to participate. The club will meet once per month in the library at lunch recess. Club members will be given a membership wristband. The wristband will ensure their ability to make their way to the library on meeting days, as library is typically closed on Fridays at lunch recess. Students must eat lunch before coming to the meeting. It might be easiest to bring lunch on book club days; but for students who buy lunch, the wristband will allow them to "cut" the cafeteria line on club meeting days. Signups will be taken at the first meeting, and we will choose our first book at the meeting, too.

The two book clubs are identical in format but will meet separately throughout the year. Each club will choose its own book--the two clubs need not choose the same book.

October 9 to 15 is Fire Prevention Week. All families are encouraged to discuss fire safety, and the National Fire Protection Association site has information, handouts, and activities to promote fire safety, especially for families. For younger students, BrainPOP Jr. (to which Pennekamp subscribes) has a fire safety "movie" that is informative without being frightening. If you haven't seen BrainPOP yet, it is full of terrific short movies with quizzes and activities on subjects throughout the sciences and humanities. Your classroom teacher can explain how to log on to BrainPOP (as can I, if you'd like to drop by the library).

Please support the Girl Scouts "One Warm Coat" drive, which is going on this week. Donate a clean, gently used (or new) coat of any size to help a needy person stay warm.

Students in all grades are urged to submit a bookmark design for the County of Los Angeles Public Library bookmark contest. The theme this year is "Picture the Adventure--READ!" Contest forms are available in our library and school office; completed entries can be turned in at our library, school office, or any County of Los Angeles library. The due date for submissions is October 29. Designs must be done in black ink--no pencil, no color. Forms can also be downloaded from the County of Los Angeles Public Library's website: Bookmark Contest.

Scholastic book orders are due October 13. Thank you for purchasing Scholastic books! The points generated by your orders provide the library with high-interest titles at no cost, which is a huge benefit to our students.

Readaloud themes this week are as follows: DK--fall; K--fire safety; 1st--fire safety; 2nd--nonfiction and the Dewey decimal system; 3rd--library map exercise; 4th--maps and reviewing the map of our library; 5th--World Food Day (October 16) and reviewing the map of our library. To see specific titles, take a look at this week's Weely Readalouds post.

Barbara Siegemund-Broka, library media specialist, maintains this blog to inform Pennekamp students and families about library news and related content. Any opinions expressed here are solely her own.

What's Ms. Barbara reading?

Song for a Whale,​ by Lynne Kelly​

﻿Worth repeating:﻿

​"In my 'Mending Wall' was my intention fulfilled with the characters portrayed and the atmosphere of the place? […] I should be sorry if a single one of my poems stopped with either of those things—stopped anywhere in fact. My poems—I should suppose everybody's poems—are all set to trip the reader head foremost into the boundless. Ever since infancy I have had the habit of leaving my blocks, carts, chairs, and such like ordinaries where people would be pretty sure to fall forward over them in the dark. Forward, you understand, and in the dark. I may leave my toys in the wrong place and so in vain. It is my intention we are speaking of—my innate mischievousness."

Quoted in Robert Frost and the New England Renaissance, by George Monteiro